Ted Warren's ruminations on teaching, playing, writing, and listening. And also pizza.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Han Bennink exercises

Much thanks to Jon McCaslin for this.
I finally got to see Mr. Bennink play live in a small room in Guelph playing SNARE DRUM ONLY!
I was blown away by his commitment and creativity. Here are some exercises to tap into that creativity yourself.

Han Bennink :

"Play as fast as you can for 5 minutes without repeating yourself."

"Same thing goes for slow, loud, soft and any combination of them."

"Play one piece of your drumkit for 5 minutes and try to keep it interesting, do this untill you have played all pieces."

"Repeat the same beat for 5 minutes and try to keep it interesting."

"Play a crescendo lasting 5 minutes ending as loud as possible."

"Play solid time for 5 minutes, check with metrone before and after, repeat untill your time is really solid."

"Play completely free for 5 minutes, no time is allowed."

"When you think you have become good at these exercises extend them by 5 minutes each. etc. These exercises should last you a lifetime."